Thousands of renters are being refused mortgages even after years of problem-free rent payments, according to Patricia Ogunfeibo, founder of London-based property firm tenant2owner. She argues that lenders place disproportionate weight on payslips instead of using an applicant's actual rental track record to judge affordability.
Ogunfeibo highlighted the case of a tenant who paid £1,600 per month for 72 consecutive months, a record that many lenders would ignore when considering a mortgage application. Speaking to Brum Daily, she said: "In England this month, a tenant paid £1,600 to her landlord. She paid her rent in full, for the 72nd consecutive month of her tenancy."
Why rent history is overlooked
Traditionally, mortgage lenders have focused on a borrower's income as shown on payslips and bank statements. This approach often overlooks a crucial indicator: the demonstrated ability to meet monthly housing costs. Ogunfeibo argues that this leaves reliable tenants in a paradox, especially when the mortgage they request is lower than the rent they have been paying for years.
"She has paid through a pandemic, through the cost-of-living squeeze, and through rent rises she had no power to refuse," Ogunfeibo said, referring to the tenant. "This afternoon, a lender may tell her she cannot afford a mortgage of £1,475 a month."
A mismatched assessment
The core problem, in Ogunfeibo's view, is that lenders verify income but do not give due weight to the strongest evidence of repayment behaviour. She explained: "Not because of her record. Because of her payslip." This means that someone who has reliably paid £1,600 in rent for six years can be judged unable to handle a £1,475 mortgage payment.
"Pay, for years, a rent higher than the mortgage you are asking for and your reward is permission to be assessed as though those payments never happened," she added. The expert described the current situation as a "half-finished revolution", arguing that rent records should carry the affordability decision itself, rather than merely supporting a deposit.
A new approach to affordability
Ogunfeibo is calling for lenders to build products where verified rent records drive the affordability decision, with income used as a backstop rather than the primary gatekeeper. She said: "This is the hardest data in any lending file: not what someone says they earn, but what they have demonstrably paid, for years."
"What I am arguing is that verification should stop doubling as the verdict," she continued. "A lender could build tomorrow, within today's rules, a product in which a sustained, verified rent record covering the stressed mortgage payment drives the affordability decision, with income checked as the backstop rather than imposed as the gate."
Wider impact on housing and rental supply
Ogunfeibo believes that helping reliable tenants become homeowners would also benefit the private rented sector. It would free up much-needed supply in a struggling market, aligning with the government's stated housing priorities. "Helping reliable tenants buy a home of their own doesn't just help them, it also helps the private rented sector by freeing up much-needed supply in a struggling market in line with the government’s priority for housing," she said.
She also stressed that the infrastructure to make this shift is already in place. "The evidence exists. The data rails exist. The regulatory moment is open."
The case for trusting rent records
As mortgage affordability rules face increasing scrutiny, Ogunfeibo's argument points to a simple but powerful logic. "What every landlord already knows is overdue for saying out loud: the best predictor of whether someone will pay their mortgage is whether they have already proved, month after month, that they can pay for a roof over their heads," she concluded.
